February 2, 2017

Obamacare More Popular Than Ever, Now That It May Be Repealed

When the Affordable Care Act passed Congress in 2010, more Americans disliked it than liked it. And that was the pattern in public opinion for the next six years.

But since Donald J. Trump, who promised to repeal the law, was elected president, that long-held pattern has begun to shift. In a variety of recent polls, with questions asked in different ways, more Americans are now saying they favor Obamacare than oppose it.

It’s interesting that both NBC/Wall Street Journal and Fox News polls are showing the same trend. The WSJ and Fox maintain a right-leaning editorial policy, while NBC’s is decidedly left-leaning. The article includes trend graphics depicting the swing as well as what demographic groups are leading this change.

Most damning of the effort to repeal the ACA is the long-run trend in answer to the Pew Center’s question of whether the federal government should make sure all Americans have health care coverage.

That answer was overwhelmingly “yes” until President Obama actually moved to do something about it. The “yes” answer re-emerged near the end of his second term as it became clear that Republicans wanted to repeal the ACA. Here’s the survey answer charted:

That’s both a sign of effective right-wing issue marketing or blatant ignorance among the electorate. As I’ve written, if your health insurance comes from an ACA exchange and you voted for Mr. Trump, or most Republicans, really, you are a fool.